Rediscovered Desire, a Broken Medallion and a Resurrection
by Rattsu
Summary: Warning: Spoilers for the end of the show. Eiji has lost the one thing that mattered to him the most, and now he's out to get him back. But, once you've regained your heart's desire, what are you supposed to do with it? Eiji/Ankh. m/m.
1. Dreams

There was a time when all that he would dream about were explosions. Grit in his teeth. A ringing pain in his ears. Air tasting like dirt. The charred smell of plastic and oil. They didn't smell anything like fireworks.

Fireworks. Another thing he couldn't watch without flinching, even when Hina held his hand so hard it hurt. Nothing hurt in this dream, and the worst part is that he can't remember if it hurt back then. Did he just never notice the scrapes and bruises? The shockwave tearing at his skin with heat enough to scorch? It had to have hurt when he shielded himself from the debris, but all he could think about was whether there were pieces of her body in the dirt that pelted him like hail. She had been crying when she died and that made her death seem even more unfair.

He still dreams about her, but not every night.

Now he dreams about falling, and that is somehow both better and worse. A moment suspended in a sky still warped purple, the void that had been Dr. Maki leaving a scar that faded only reluctantly.

Falling.

It seemed an impossibly long way down. Enough time for a life. Certainly enough for a death. Two deaths. A kind of ending, maybe even a kind one. Saving the world had been within his reach after all. Their reach.

The slap stings, and this time the hurt doesn't make things better. It makes things worse. More real. More memory than dream.

"Eiji, wake up." There was a bird sculpted on the glove that was Ankh's hand, Ankh's arm, but he had never imagined that it spoke. The voice always came from elsewhere, like a whisper from a stagehand you couldn't see. A very annoyed stagehand. "You're gonna die."

Of course he was, that was why he was looking at the sky and not the rapidly approaching ground. But words needed to be said, even in a dream, so he answers with a smile. Maybe of relief. Maybe because even in his dreams the hand is a welcome sight. "Oh, it's fine, I don't think there's much I can do about that. And besides, you're…" Dead. Gone. But in his face all the same.

"Don't worry about me, I got what I wanted." Just a hand, like at the start. No host body. No smirk. No smile either. Too few smiles.

"You mean life? But if you die…" What was the use of getting what you want only to lose it right away? He had never managed to figure that one out. Ankh seemed get it. But then Ankh always seemed like he knew it all, even when he was flailing in the dark like the rest of them.

"You're right. Thanks to you all, a pile of medals like me can die. I don't think I could ever find anything more satisfying."

You sound like Dr. Maki, is what he had wanted to say. Only in the end are things complete. Such bullshit. The end is the end and there was nothing great about that. Nothing sad either, or so he would have thought, but that was regarding his own end, and this was different. Different enough that the words stick in his mouth and he remained quiet as Ankh's hand gestured empathically in his face.

"Picking you worked out for me in the end, no doubt about that."

No doubt. How could he say that with such conviction and then just float away. Could hands even look back? In his dreams he tries to grab him anyway, but his reach is too short. Like always. Too short for the thing that he realized too late mattered the most.

"Hey… where are you going?" He knows where, but he asks anyway. Maybe one day the answer will be a different one.

"I'm not the hand that you need help from anymore."

Sometimes he wakes up then; sometimes he keeps falling, keeps flailing, keeps trying to swim after the fading hand. The shoulder turned on a sandy beach, Ankh walking away. Not looking back. Never looking back.

Eiji wish that he could learn that trick.


	2. Sand

Sun.  
Sand.  
Sand in his shoes.  
Sand in his underwear.  
Everybody laughed at him for obsessing over a spare pair, but they had never taken a walk in the desert. Sand got in everywhere, and while his clothes were loose enough that they didn't chafe, and his feet were calloused by far too many miles walked, underwear was a different story. Sweat. Folds. Chafing. Even when he didn't have water to wash them, airing them out helped. Both with the smell and with the sand. And with the sun when it came to that, it might not be the most fashionable hat but they had probably saved his life once or twice. You never knew what would do that. Or who.

Sometimes he turned around because he felt a presence behind him. A ghost walking in his shadow. Or floating. A hallucination he talked to sometimes though it never answered. At least not with words that he believed. Ankh had never been kind. Or maybe he had been, in the same merciless way as the sun. His nose had blisters now and his skin was dark once more. No more Tokyo. No more beds. No more food whenever he wanted it. No more showers on demand. No more small room where he could close the door behind him and his nightmares, secure in the knowledge that Ankh would never care. Or at least never ask.

The cracked medallion in his hand was always cool despite the sun.

There was a city in the sand. And an old man. The city older than the man, but not by much. Corrugated steel sheets and plastic tarpaulins were less of an impressive setting than an ancient stone castle, but Alchemy was originally Al-kimia, and the roots of what had transpired eight hundred years ago could be found among the sands. One of the roots. He reluctantly relinquished the cracked medal, straining his knowledge of Arabic to the limit. This was important. Mending was easier than creation granted the desire was there, but this was not where he needed to be. The knowledge was his now, but he needed a place of power. Not here. This was the sand of Uva, the country of the holy beetles. No birds here. Eiji would have to go elsewhere.


	3. Rain

Sun.

Rain.

Then sun again.

He was soaked down to his underwear.

The tourists carried umbrellas as they explored the ruins scattered amidst the jungle. Japanese politeness went a long way here, as did Japanese money. Not that he had any, but people made assumptions. He could have travelled here with any tourist group, but he was with none, just a quiet, politely smiling man walking amidst ruins that dwarfed him. He didn't speak much Khmer, but his French was adequate. The dialect was different from the one he was used to, but it would do. It had brought him this far.

The wall was massive and overgrown, a part of the complex not yet restored for the masses. The stone glistened with water and the sound of birds almost drowned the distant tourists. It was as the old man had said; the carvings were everywhere, surrounding him with their wings and arrogant, hawk-like features. Garuda. The battle steed of Vishnu, the high king of the gods. He'd never added it all up before but looking back it became too obvious, staring at him from a thousand clues. State seals. National emblems. Red wings spread proudly on the not-man, not-bird.

This was the place. Maybe he should be nervous, but hope was an alien feeling by now. He had just kept walking out of sheer stubbornness. What else could he do? Stay in Tokyo surrounded by far too understanding friends? They did not need that. They had their own lives, and he liked to imagine that he seemed happy enough on the video calls with them. He could still smile. He could still joke, even when he saw Shingo wearing an expression that hit too close to the memories he treasured. A funhouse mirror, a joke that had no punch line because he was Hina's brother and not the one he kept expecting him to be.

Eiji had never asked how much that was remembered on his end.


	4. Cold

Cold.

Silence.

Then too many sounds.

When the tourists left the night came alive. The temperature dropped rapidly, though that might just be nervousness. His hands were shivering all the same. Maybe he shouldn't have been doing this alone. Maybe he should have asked for help from Mr. Kougami. But he had chosen to keep the medallion a secret for a reason. His and Hina's secret. Mr. Kougami had his heart in the right place, but he was not sure about his methods. If he ever figured out how, he had a suspicion that the businessman would not hesitate to recreate the medals. Build his own OOO. The world had enough weapons already. Besides, he could do this. Maybe he was the only one that could. Desire. It was as Mr. Kougami had said.

_As long as there is desire, there is the potential for change and creation. It is desire that turns today into tomorrow._

Dawn was approaching. It was always coldest then. The forest was kinder than the desert, even at night it kept some of the heat of the day, though the humidity still made him shiver. The medal rested in front of him, a smaller echo of the larger seals that surrounded them. Two halves, nested close together on the red silk that covered the pile of cell medals. They should never have been broken apart. But they didn't shatter completely. Not like the others. Not like the Greed. He had never dared to ask himself why, but now he had to. He knew that Ankh would eventually be restored. He had seen his future self. But that future was forty years from now. And he did not want to wait that long.

_"Try wanting something for a change… you'll see what it's like." Ankh had sounded so furious, eyes shooting arrows behind the wet fringe. "Have you ever really wanted anything at all?"_

He had. He really had, but he had got it all wrong. And so he had given the wrong answer. Power. He had wanted it for sure, but power was nothing without intent. What use was having reach if there was nothing you wanted to reach out to? That was his error. That was why the purple medals had kept such a strong hold of him despite him finding a desire. Because he had not. Not really. Deep down he had been too similar to Dr Maki. Seeking an end. Not of the world, but of himself. Dying while saving the world. A good end, but an end all the same. No tomorrow.

Eiji hoped it wasn't too late to want one now.


	5. Resurrection

"Hmh?"

One word.

Or more of a sound really.

Eiji was struck dumb all the same.

All angles and limbs, wreathed in the first light of dawn, crimson feathers raining down like dew. For a moment it seemed like the ruins themselves held their breath as Ankh, hunched like the bird that he was, flexed his brilliant wings before they faded as he settled into his familiar shape. Eiji had seen him reconstitute himself like this once before. Had seen the shape hold true, then fail, his body collapsing in a pile of medals, leaving only the arm behind. He had still needed a host. But that had been then, and this was now, and Ankh tossed back his hair and gave him a scathing look.

"Took you long enough." The hand flexed, the fingers curling as if stretching after a good night's sleep.

"Ah, well…" Eiji smiled nervously, half bowing where he was kneeling. "Sorry about that." He felt stiffer than Ankh looked as he got to his feet, still watching the Greed warily, looking for signs of something going wrong. The caustic smell of alchemical concoctions still lingered in the air.

"It's alright. I'm used to you being an idiot." A smile, sharp and fast enough to have been imagined. "And deaf."

"Deaf?" Eiji was brushing his knees off, nervously looking anywhere but Ankh. "Oh, that really was you? I thought I felt you sometimes, but imagined that was only in my head. I must have looked pretty silly trying to talk to you."

"You did. Lucky for me I wasn't there all the time." There was an awkward pause there as both of them tried to remember exactly what had been said. In the end, Eiji broke it with a relieved laugh.

"But it worked, right? Your Core Medal is whole again?"

"I suppose so." Ankh shrugged his bony shoulders. Clothes had formed out of the same substance as he had, and he looked so very out of place amongst the ruins. "You wouldn't let it fade."

"I wouldn't…" Eiji took a deep breath, looking away again. "I thought that you…"

"That I was that special?" A smug smile, pale fringe lining his face. "Of course I am. But a Greed is a Greed. Remember what we live on."

"What you… ah, Cell Medals." Eiji gestured helplessly around the empty room. "I'm sorry; all I had were used in the resurrection."

"Idiot." The slap on the back of his head made Eiji gasp and rub his scalp with a small frown.

"Was that really…" But Ankh interrupted him as if he hadn't even noticed.

"Cell Medals are nothing but concentrated desire. Desire was what kept me here. What kept my medal from crumbling. You wouldn't let me go." A fleeting grimace was dispelled as quickly as it appeared. "You and her."

"Hina…" Eiji could feel his smile threatening to burst out. So far it had felt too much like another dream, another would be nightmare. But this was real, wasn't it? Ankh was really standing here, looking awkward and annoyed. No possession. No price to pay for his company. Well, nothing except…

"So, give me." Ankh held out his hand expectantly, almost aggressively.

"I'm sorry…" Eiji felt flustered, this wasn't how he had expected things to go. Honestly he hadn't dared to expect anything, but it seemed unfair that time hadn't made him more able to deal with Ankh's fleeting whims. He always felt as if he was half a step behind. "Ice cream?"

"Idiot." The annoyed huff hit right in Eiji's gut. "Core Medals. Mine. You have some."

"I do, don't I?" Eiji fumbled in his shirt for the medal holder. Thanks to the visitor from the future, he had got some of the medals back. How did that even work? If he gave Ankh the medals now only for Ankh to give them back so many years later, who had got the medals in the first place? Time travel had always hurt his head, he didn't envy Den-O. "Here." He placed the few bird medals he had in Ankh's hand, counting them up like coins. "I'm sorry there's not more of them."

"Hmh." Ankh huffed softly as he absorbed the medals, each little clinking sound making him shiver a little. "It will have to do."

"Do you…" Eiji didn't know how to continue, he just held out the medal holder, wordlessly questioning Ankh. The hand that swiped the holder was as fast as a snake.

"I'll keep those. I'm amazed you haven't lost them yet." There was a pause when he looked back at Eiji, frowning slightly as if he tried to read the other man's fears. "Don't be an idiot. I have no intention to absorb them. I have what I want already."

The flush that begun building was nothing Eiji wanted to acknowledge, so he just nodded vigorously. Too vigorously. "I understand. I just… I'm just not sure how this works now."

"You mean will I have any reason to stick around now that I don't need you to hunt Core Medals for my restoration?" The look was a challenge, and one that Eiji failed as he looked away.

"Yes, that bit…"

"You really are an idiot!"

Ankh gripped his hand too hard, too fast to pull back. The grip of the Greed hand was always softer than Eiji had imagined, well, apart from the claws. Warm, like a leather coat that had been left out in the sun. It made his heart stop just a little bit.

"Ankh, I…" Words stuck in his throat when Ankh looked up, sharp features unreadable.

"Here." A small shudder passed through the Greed, and when Ankh pulled back his hand, a Taka medallion rested on Eiji's palm. He pulled a Tora and Batta medallion from the case and put them top of it. "Hold on to them."

"Thank you." Eiji nodded hard as he stepped back, pressing his closed hand against his beating heart. He got it. He wasn't quite as clueless as Ankh sometimes claimed. Ankh would never walk out on one of his Core medallions. This was… was what? A sign of trust? "I didn't mean to doubt…"

"You're going to need them." Ankh had stepped closer when Eiji stepped back, one brow arched in amusement. "Or aren't you aware of your friends?"

"My friends?" Eiji was completely lost for a moment, Ankh was too close and for a moment he almost closed his eyes and leaned in.

And then the shot rang out.


	6. Flight

"Down!"

A shout.  
An instinctual reaction.  
Eiji had forgotten how to breathe.

Ankh was a wiry length beneath him, pressed against the stone floor, but all the thoughts that went through Eiji's mind were of death and loss and the fact that this was all happening again, a rerun of a nightmare with the cast switch around. Then, another shot rang out, the echo rolling like thunder in the empty ruins and Ankh cursed and jabbed him in the ribs and this was reality once more.

"Off!" Ankh huffed the word with an annoyance that Eiji missed with the force of a desert sun.

"Be careful! Keep your head down," Eiji cautioned as they both quickly scampered closer to the wall, away from the line of fire that one of the ruined windows had given the shooter. He couldn't see anything, the opening was facing the rising sun, one of the reasons why this room had been suitable in the first place.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I warned you about them in the first place." Defying Eiji's warning, Ankh popped his head out for a quick look, only to yank it back as another shot tore stone shards from the wall he was hiding behind. Only then did he seem to realize that Eiji was just sitting there and aimed a scathing glare in his direction. "What are you waiting for? Transform?"

"About that…" Eiji quickly scanned the room. They could make a run for the stairs, but if they had set up a sniper overlooking the room, chances were the rest might be covering the staircase, and there they had no cover. "I'd rather not."

"What?" Ankh crawled over to him on hands and knees, and the disbelieving look on his face made Eiji smile a little.

"They are just humans, and…" The hesitation was there, but Eiji continued all the same. "After the war… after I stopped it…"

"Never mind." Ankh's interruption was rude but as familiar as blisters. "You can be stupid later. More people are coming, let's go."

"You're right." Eiji pointed towards the other window, the one showing nothing but dark jungle covering a sheer drop down the side of the temple tower. "Let's go."

There was no time to think, not really, just enough to sprint across the floor, and dive out the window just as the boots reached the top of the stairs. There were bullets, but by then he was already falling, grabbing for a branch before something else, no, someone else grabbed him instead. Grabbed him and held him tight, surrounded by a cloud of bright red feathers and for a moment Eiji remembers a dream of falling.

The dream is rudely broken as they land in the thick undergrowth, Ankh swearing as his wings fade and the disappearing glow leaves them nearly blind in the damp, green darkness. Daylight had not penetrated this deep down yet, the sun had just risen high enough to catch the top of the tower. Down here everything was wreathed in shadows still.

"Now what?" Ankh doesn't protest when Eiji grabs his hand, he just gives the other man an odd look, that little tilt of his head that makes Eiji's heart jump a little.

"The jungle," he says, pulling the awkward Greed along. "It should just be a couple of hours walk to the village, and they are probably busy keeping watch on the roads and the parking lot."

"Because in their minds nobody would be stupid enough to traipse through the jungle." Ankh clearly thinks the same, all angles and and annoyance as he follows, dragged by the hand into the unknown darkness.

"It's just a jungle," Eiji tries to sound encouraging, but he supposes it comes out as stupid enthusiasm. At least judging from the look on Ankh's face. "I'd rather make a little detour than…"

"Than?" Ankh pulls his hand back for balance, and Eiji lets it go only reluctantly. "You owe me an explanation. And about a year's worth of ice cream."

"I suppose I do. We can talk on the way, let's just get some distance from their guns first."

Ankh's sullen silence was the only agreement that he got.

…

The jungle was loud around them. Waking birds. Humming insects. Odd cracks and snaps from animals shying away before they were noticed. Eiji walked first, pausing now and then to check his internal compass to make sure they were on the right track. It was harder to go by the sun down here under the forest canopy, the only times he could take a reading was when they reached the odd open space where one of the forest giants had fallen to expose a hole towards the blue skies. At least the undergrowth had thinned out once they had ventured far enough from the edge that sunlight became scarce. Walking was slippery but not hard. At least for him, Ankh stomped on with little huffs of annoyance punctuating their silence.

"Sorry about this." Eiji scratched his neck, veering down an animal path that he hoped was leading towards the river.

"You should be." Ankh was half a step behind him, close, but far enough for Eiji to want to turn around all the time to make sure he was really there.

"Do you regret not being a floating hand right now? That might have made for an easier walk."

"Idiot." Ankh slapped the back of Eiji's head. "In what world is floating easy? Why did you think I borrowed the detective's body? That floating thing was giving me a headache."

"I was meaning to ask about that…" The sound of the river could be heard in a distance, and Eiji slowed down a little as the ground started sloping downwards. "You… this is your complete body now? Or are you going to fade again?"

"Who knows. It feels stable enough for now." Ankh bashed aside a branch as if it had insulted him, now that they were nearing open ground, the undergrowth turned heavy once more.

"I see." Eiji swallowed hard. He supposed he should have known that he'd have no guarantees, but still, the knowledge that this might not be permanent made his stomach twist.

"So, who were those idiots with guns back there?" The question broke through Eiji's worries before they had started festering.

"Ah, yes, they… It's a long story." Eiji tried to lengthen his stride, but they had reached the river now, and he could not escape this story by walking faster. Instead he paused and turned, looking at Ankh for the first time since they had started their trek through the jungle.

It was eerie. Ankh looked just like he remembered him, stood there picking leaves from his jacket with an annoyed look on his face. For the moment even the gloved hand that was his Greed heritage had faded, leaving him looking human, if rather incongruous in the jungle setting.

"Hmm?" There was that head-tilt again, and Eiji felt himself sinking down on one of the stones lining the shallow river.

"Let's pause for a moment. It's… complicated." He looked down at the water, leaning down to splash some in his face. It felt hot. Far too hot.

"It's probably not." Ankh made his way down to the river as well, inhumanly sure-footed on the slippery rocks in those boots. "You did something stupid again, didn't you?"

"Kind of." Eiji kept watching the Greed, the way he stretched his arms in the sunlight as if they were wings. "You said you were aware… at least for some parts of my journey. You should know what I am talking about."

"I know a lot of things you aren't telling me." The smile was a dagger that Ankh wielded rarely but with skill. "That doesn't mean you get to keep quiet."

"When you were… gone." Eiji swallowed hard, his hand seeking out the Taka medallion in his pocket. "I went back. To the village…" he sighed and shook his head. "I wanted to fix things. Make things better. I thought that now that I had the power, I could save them. Save everybody. Stop the war. Make peace. Make sure no more children would die. I thought I understood why I still had the driver, but…"

The pause grew longer, but Ankh didn't say anything. He just hunched down on the rock, looking intently at Eiji until the silence grew too hard to maintain. The river washed over the rocks, not minding either of the men. Finally he sighed and said with uncommon tiredness. "You don't understand a damn thing, Eiji

The words hit Eiji like a wave, the cold water dripping from his face and hair taking him back. Back to the beach. Back to the battle. Back to an Ankh screaming the same words, fists clenched and face bruised.

_"You don't understand a damn thing, Eiji!"_

_"You're the one who doesn't understand." He remembered getting to his feet, his back to Ankh. Not looking. He remembered feeling so tired of this fight. Of trying to explain what it felt like, being filled by the power of those purple medals. Of having his fears and doubts stripped away, one at a time. Losing sight and taste and touch… worthwhile sacrifices for what he was getting in return?_

_Ankh didn't seem to think so, screaming words like daggers at his back. "If you're really a greed, stop acting like there's nothing you want! It pisses me off!"_

_Nothing. He remembered hearing footsteps speeding up in the water and turning just in time to get a fist in his gut that sends him stumbling back into the water. Both of them on their knees now, too marked by words and blows to recover quickly. He remembered trying to catch his breath, trying to explain but it was easier to lash out._

_"You're too greedy! You want life so much, but don't understand how precious it is!?" He remembered feeling nothing when the punch hit Ankh's face, even though it made the Greed stumble back and nearly fall over. Life. It was precious. Hina's life. Shingo's life. Everybody's life. His own? He hadn't even considered that back then._

_"What difference does it make?" Ankh might have laughed behind his wet fringe, and Eiji remembered feeling like he was missing half the argument. As if he was always one step behind, trying to interpret the words spat at him. "Try wanting something for a change… you'll see what it's like. Have you ever really wanted anything at all?"_

_The words he could deflect, the punch that followed them not so much. Eiji remembered feeling the pain break through the purple numbness, remembered his knees folding back, remembered falling. A different kind of falling. A short distance. Water that embraced him. A different kind of heat as Ankh threw himself over him to hold him down. Timed slowed a bit there. Ankh in his lap. Ankh's hands tangled in his shirt, yanking him up, screaming at him._

_"Have you, Eiji?"_

_He remembered not knowing. _  
_He remembered stuttering. _  
_He remembered tears hidden by the ocean. _  
_"I.. I wanted…" _  
_He remembered the dream he had every night. _  
_"There was something I wanted once, but… I gave up on it." _  
_He remembered the words coming, and Ankh actually listening. _  
_Not interrupting. _  
_Not pushing back. _  
_Just holding him up, listening to the sounds of him breaking all over again. _  
_Like the waves. _  
_"I tried to focus on what was in front of me…" _  
_He remembered wanting so badly not to remember feeling useless. _  
_He remembered wanting it. _  
_Trying to explain. _  
_Trying to make Ankh see it, because he looked so confused. _  
_"And then… I got it." _  
_He remembered wanting to explain better _  
_"The power to help people, no matter how far off they are!" _  
_He remembered wanting, wanting to share that. _  
_Share how it made him feel. _  
_"More and more…" _  
_More power. More reach. His hands weren't empty anymore. _  
_"You gave it to me." _  
_He remembered taking a deep breath because this was important. _  
_Ankh was important. And he was not getting it. _  
_"I never mentioned that, did I?" _  
_He remembered feeling a bit stupid. _  
_That he never told. _  
_That he never let on that he was using Ankh as much as the other way around. _  
_That he wasn't selfless. _  
_That he wasn't good. _  
_That he was just as afraid and lost as everybody else but now at least he had a chance. _  
_A chance to matter. _  
_A chance to change things. _  
_He remembered not being quite sure when Ankh's grip had changed from holding him down to holding him up. Supporting him. _  
_He remembered smiling. Finding the words, _  
_"Ankh… Thank you." _  
_Small words. _  
_Just a start. _  
_He remembered being pulled up. _  
_Breath on his face. _  
_Ankh leaning in…_

"Hey!" The pebble was thrown at Eiji's head with the same unerring accuracy that Ankh threw medals.

"Ow!" Eiji rubbed his head in annoyance. "What was that for?"

"Don't space out." An annoyed snort as Ankh jumped to another stone, a closer one. "I'm not a ghost anymore, if you want to talk to me you have to make an effort."

"Sorry." Eiji rose as well, looking out over the river, trying to judge the best way to cross it. "I was just thinking about how right you were."

"Better late than never I suppose."

"I mean, power… I thought that was what I wanted. I really did. But then, when I actually could use it… it was… well, it was glorious at first." Eiji stretched a little, shadowing his eyes against the sun. Southwest. The river ran southwest. They could follow it for a while. " . Even jets… they were no match for me. I could do anything!"

"That's why the OOO driver was created after all." Ankh shrugged, as if this was not news for him. As if he had seen it all. Maybe he had. Once upon a time.

"And people wanted it. Wanted me. Wanted to recruit money. For good causes." Eiji sighed and rubbed his neck. "I had been down that road before. Power is no different than money, is it? I was making the same mistake I was making back then. When I thought that just throwing money at a problem could solve it, but all it did was create more conflict. And this time…"

"You were walking the path of the King. Big deal."

"It was a big deal," Eiji protested, wading over to Ankh, the shallow water surprisingly cold. "I never wanted to be a conqueror."

"And now he gets it," Ankh scoffed. He looked amused at Eiji's rising frustration.

"Get what?" It was happening all over again, wasn't it? An argument in water, and Eiji was playing catch-up.

"Desire. What it is all about." Ankh jumped down from his stone, meeting Eiji in the knee-deep water. The set of his chin was a challenge all of its own, but he followed up with words. "You never wanted power."

"I did," Eiji protested, holding his ground.

"Then why did those purple medals have such a hold over you?"

"Because they gave me…"

"Bullshit!" Ankh was close now, in his face, all huffed up like an angry bird. "You wanted power for the sake of others. Not yourself. No heart's desire. You didn't want anything, and you didn't give a shit what happened to you in the process. You wanted the nothingness as much as Maki did!"

"That's not…"

"Really? You were ready to die up there."

"So were you!" Eiji couldn't hold back anymore, this time he was the one grabbing Ankh, clinging harder than he liked to admit. "You told me so yourself! But I'm not!" Shallow breaths. Struggling for control. Eiji blinked a few times to chase off the panic attack that was creeping in out of nowhere.

"You're not what?" Ankh's voice had grown soft as Eiji's grew harsh.

"I'm not ready for you to be gone. Even if you're okay with dying." Where did the tears come from?

"I noticed that when my medallion cracked and didn't turn to dust." Ankh placed his hands on Eiji's shoulders a bit awkwardly, before looking back towards the jungle with narrow eyes.

"What?" Eiji looked as well, but there was nothing more than the green and Ankh's arms around him. Almost an embrace.

"I'm just waiting for someone to take a shot at us."

"What?" Eiji wasn't sure he was managing to process Ankh's leap of logic. "Did you hear something?"

"No. But it's happened before when you were about to kiss me."

"What?!"

"Maki on the beach, then your military friends…" Ankh keep a cautious eye on the forest.

"No, I mean…" Eiji swallowed hard and the protest died in his mouth. It hit too close.

"Hmm?" Ankh looked back, the hint of a teasing smirk on his face. "What **do **you mean, Eiji?"

"I…" His heart beat too fast. His mouth was dry. Probably tasted bad too. He was standing in a river and his toes were going numb, and Ankh had a point, people might have been following them and someone would probably take another shot at them, and… "…you're right."

"I usually am." And too smug about it. But Eiji didn't say that, instead he took a deep breath and leaned closer.

"Ankh, I… I would really like to kiss you."

And this time there were no interruptions.


	7. Desire

WARNING: This veers into nsfw m/m smut towards the end of the story.

A meal.  
The cheapest one.  
Bought with change and a smile.  
Smiles had always opened doors for Eiji.

They had reached the village just after dusk, tired and wet and strangely quiet. Eiji had found himself at a loss for words, lips still tingling. Something had changed. Or had anything changed? Really? Hadn't things just settled back into their proper shape? The way things always were supposed to have been? Like the medallion he kept fingering in his pocket… whole, not half.

"Merci beaucoup." Eiji smiled at the old woman who ran the restaurant, trying to ignore the way Ankh dug into the contents of his bowl. The absence had not improved the Greed's table manners any. "I am sorry for my friend's manners," he continued in heavily accented french.

"Oh never mind that." The old woman was beaming at Eiji. "American, is he?"

"Ahhh, well, he is hungry anyway." Eiji laughed a bit nervously, glad that Ankh didn't understand french . "We missed our tour bus and tried to take a shortcut back. It feels like we've been walking for hours."

"You poor boys." Her smile softened. "If you want to, you can stay here for the night. I've got a room right up top. Sometimes I rent it out to backpackers."

"That is very kind of you, but…" Eiji looked at what remained of his pile of coins. Perhaps enough for a soft drink or ice cream. If they had those here.

"Oh shush, you two look exhausted. And hungry," she added after another look at Ankh that had already finished his food and was holding out the bowl for more with an expectant look on his face.

"Ankh!" Eiji, made a face, and got one back in return. One that made his heart do a little extra beat.

"Well, I am glad he likes it." The old woman retrieved the bowl. "I will bring some more, and then if you want to you can help me out a bit back in the kitchen and then I can show you where the room is. Would that be alright?"

"It would be perfect, thank you." Eiji bowed, which was harder than he liked, still seated at the table as he was. "I'm very sorry to impose…"

"Shush. You eat now too, before it gets cold. We can talk later." She went back to refill Ankh's bowl, leaving the two alone with their awkward silence once more.

…

It was pitch black outside when Eiji finally made his way upstairs. He had spent the evening helping the old lady out with whatever chores she had that needed doing. It wasn't just for gratitude either, it had given him an excuse to be alone and think. Or, well, alone if one meant absence from Ankh, because as predicted the Greed was nowhere to be found when it was time for work. Good. Or, well, not so good. He had to keep fingering the medallion in his pocket to make sure he wasn't imagining things, even though technically he knew this was not the medal that had been broken. That one now resided inside Ankh, the core of his being once more. But still, the broken one was no longer there, and that was a reminder as good as any.

A reminder that everything had changed.

When he closed his eyes be could still feel the kiss. Awkward at first, then heated, almost angry. Impatient. It wasn't as if they had just melted into each other's arms and everything turned perfect. Eiji wasn't sure that he would have trusted something like that even if it had happened. He didn't want perfect. He wanted Ankh. He wanted the awkward fit, the jagged edges, the challenge implicit in everything from a touch to a look. Unapologetic when Eiji was nothing but apologies.

"That took it's sweet time." Ankh was lounging in the room, peering through the open window, his back to the door. It wasn't a large space, just like the old woman had said it was a small room she rented out now and again. Two narrow beds, western style. A window that could be opened, covered by thick mosquito netting that Ankh had flung aside, heedless of the consequences.

"At least pull the curtains, will you?" Eiji closed the door behind them. The restaurant was now empty and quiet, and the village was too small for street lamps. Further down the single road, a bar still blared distant music to the overcast skies. "I don't want to be eaten alive."

"Really?" Ankh's snort was more of a laugh. "You were prepared to sleep in the forest. Good job on sweet-talking grandma into letting us stay."

"We would have had a fire in the forest. Smoke helps with mosquitoes." Eiji walked up to the window, reaching past Ankh to pull it closed. Brushing against the other man made his breath hiccup, but he steeled himself and pulled back once more. "So what were you doing? You could have helped out, you know."

"Don't be ridiculous." Ankh leaned close, close enough that Eiji could feel his breath hit him every time the Greed spit out another word. "I was making sure this place was safe, that none of your friends with guns had beaten us here."

"Oh." Eiji felt his cheeks flush a little, not only because of the closeness. "I didn't…"

"Didn't think? Nothing new there." Ankh shrugged and leaned in a little closer, his lips brushing Eiji's.

"Ankh, I…" He had to swallow hard to keep his heart down his throat, lips brushing together as he spoke. "I mean I want this, want you, but…"

"But?" Ankh's hand had fisted itself in Eiji's shirt, pulled the loose fabric tight.

"I haven't… done this before." Eiji wouldn't have thought the words would be so hard to push out, but they were. He refused to blush though, and even met Ankh's eyes when the Greed let go of him and took a step back with a look of cautious confusion on his face.

"Really? What about your amusement park friend? What about the greenhouse?" Feathers ruffled, there were an undertone of suppressed jealousy there, or maybe it was only colored by Eiji's memories.

"We kissed, nothing more. I mean, I…" This was important, even if it was hard to talk about. "I always… I felt like I had more important things to do than being together with someone. I mean I was in a position to actually help people, so…"

"…so you were an idiot even back then." Ankh nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. His gloved hand had re-materialised as it always did when emotions got heated. "Good to know."

"That's not my point." Eiji threw his hands out in frustration. "My point is that I really have no idea what I am doing."

"What you want to, I hope?" Ankh tilted his head, frowning faintly. But his arms uncrossed and he stepped closer once more.

"Yes, well, I don't have much practice with doing what I want either." Eiji drew a deep breath and took Ankh's hand in his, the gloved one. He had always been surprised at how warm it was. Leathery and soft, covered by slick plates of armour that felt like glass under his fingertips. "But I'm willing to learn."

"Huh." Ankh looked down for a moment, at his hand held by both of Eiji's. "Well, it can't be that hard. The detective used to do it all the time."

"What?" Eiji felt his eyes go wide. "Shingo? I mean… how, did you? When you were using hi… I mean using his body?" There was no way that sentence could be spoken without blushing now that his mind had gone there,

"Idiot." Ankh had pulled back his hand and pointed at his temple. "His memories. I could access them if I tried, remember?"

"Yes." He let out a sigh of relief before realizing what that meant. "You accessed his memories about things like that? Why?"

Ankh just looked at him, head tilted until finally Eiji caught on to what he was implying. The reason to go into detailed studies exactly how a human body worked. How human desire worked.

"Ankh… you can't just…" The sigh was deep, outrage hiding the nervousness. "I mean…"

"I can't do it anymore." The hand flicked in annoyance. "Only got my own memories now. And we Greed are not very used to our senses being this fine-tuned."

"Ankh…" Eiji repeated the name and stepped closer, for the first time realizing that yes, he felt like he was stumbling blindly through the night, but at least he was not alone in that. At least he was used to touch, used to taste and sight. Ankh had experienced the world through the dull filter that was his Greed form for most of his existence, it was only when he had possessed a human he had learned that there was another way to feel the world. Another way to experience it. It looked like it had stuck with him through the resurrection.

"What?" Ankh held his ground, the chin raised in challenge.

"It will be okay." Eiji put as much heart into the words as he could. "It really will. I mean, it's not any more complicated than using the OOO's driver, and I learned that."

"Eventually," Ankh said with the look of a man that really hated to admit it. "It took you long enough."

"Well, are you willing to let me try?"

A deep breath, a thoughtful pause, and then a final nod.

…

It didn't use to be this hard to undress.  
Eiji wasn't shy, you couldn't be when travelling the world like he did. He had stripped in front of strangers more than once, had in fact met Ankh, or, well, Shingo, the first time when he was wearing nothing but his underwear. But what was easy with strangers was harder now, in part because Ankh didn't want to keep his hands off him. Small kisses. Little bites. An annoyed huff when Eiji had to push him back to get his shirt off. And, well, the other part that was harder now was the fact that he was hard, something he was terribly conscious off once his pants dropped to the floor. At least his straining underwear only got an amused snort from the Greed before he went back to kissing him. Still fully dressed.

"Ankh…" Eiji mumbled the words, lips feeling bruised because Ankh wasn't exactly gentle in anything he did. "Stop fidgeting." He had managed to tease the shirt from far too tight pants, but that was all.

"It tickles." The complaining was so filled with annoyance that the moment broke, and Eiji had to choke back half a giggle.

"Then squirm less. I just want to take your clothes off." How many times had he dreamt about that over the year they were together? How many times had he ended up feeling guilty and ashamed, because that was Hina's brother he was trying to pretend he was not fantasizing about?

"Why didn't you say so." Ankh pulled back a few inches, eyes narrowing in concentration. There was a brief gust of wind, not as strong as when he materialized his wings, but once Eiji had opened his eyes again, the Greed was standing in front of him, entirely nude.

"Oh." Eiji swallowed hard. He hadn't expected this moment to come this quickly, had planned for it to be slower, more romantic maybe. Not like this, but… "Why didn't you tell me?" He hadn't realized that Ankh's clothes must have been part of his form as much as his wings or the armored glove. Formed from cell medals the same way that the flesh of the Greed was. For him to try to take them off… "It must have felt like I was pulling at your hair. Or feathers." Ankh needed proper clothes. He made sure to remember that. Clothes that could be taken off properly next time. Next time… oh how he hoped he wouldn't mess up so there would actually be a next time. Keeping his eyes above the navel he burst out "I'm sorry about that." Crap. He shouldn't have bowed. Or looked. The blush came unbidden.

"Mmm?" Ankh looked down on Eiji with a faint smirk. "By all means…"

"Well…" Eiji took a deep breath and kept from jerking back. This was… he supposed he shouldn't be surprised that this was as awkward as anything ever was with the Greed. But at the same time… this was Ankh naked in front of him. Completely naked. Hard.

Eiji swallowed hard as he felt his knees give out, sinking to the floor. His hands didn't shake when he reached out and ran them over Ankh's hips, following the sharp angles where they jutted out. Slim legs, not that he was surprised, those skinny jeans hadn't really given any indication of anything else. Not that he had looked. Except he totally had. And now he could finally touch. It felt… like more of a relief than he had expected. Was he nervous? Of course he was. But this wasn't terrifying in the same way as he had feared. Maybe because this was Ankh. Maybe because he was fairly certain that if he did something wrong, the Greed would tell him. Loudly. And if he screwed up… how could he do worse than he already had? And all those mistakes had caused them to end up here, in a strange room in a stranger's house. Naked.

It wasn't even that hard to open his mouth and swallow deep. Eyes closed and hands holding those narrow hips secure so Ankh couldn't thrust too hard. He hadn't planned to do this, he wasn't even sure what he had planned. A hand maybe, that he knew how to do, at least that bit was easier with men. He'd done it on himself often enough. But things had spiraled out of control, and he was surprisingly okay with that. At least this way he got to hear Ankh suck in a breath that was almost a gasp, and feel a shiver that was so deep that he suspected only willpower held the Greed upright.

"Eiji…" Ankh's voice was hoarse, and filled with equal parts wonder and concern. "Is this… really what it's supposed to feel like?"

Eiji pulled back and licked his lips. It took a moment before he could collect himself, especially with the tip of Ankh's cock constantly brushing his lips, begging to be let back in. "I… honestly wouldn't know. Is it good?"

That gave the Greed a moment's pause, as if he was loath to admit something that was written all over his face anyway. Eiji would have laughed if he hadn't decided to take pity on the now quite desperate Ankh and take him back in his mouth, something that made any coherent answer impossible. Not that it was easy to keep working either, he kept wanting to smile because it was just so… oh he hadn't even known what to expect. Maybe he had been overthinking everything. He had seen Ankh and the way he devoured his ice cream, but he hadn't made the connection to how dull the Greed's senses usually were. Not until he had experienced it himself, that slow loss of sight and taste and… touch. Ankh had never felt anything like this before. That made Eiji determined to make sure he would not forget it. Even if it was rather quick…

Eiji managed to not quite choke as he swallowed.

"This…" Ankh didn't manage to finish the sentence as he stumbled back and sat down on the bed, looking like he hadn't breathed for the last few minutes. "We are doing this again." It was an order delivered with such passion that Eiji couldn't hold back the laugh any longer.

"Ankh…" He really tried to collect himself, but the sight of the Greed looking as lost and ruffled as he did just made things worse.

"What?" It was an annoyed snap, Ankh glaring daggers as if he suspected that Eiji was making fun of him.

"Nothing." Eiji made his way over to the bed, hooking his thumbs into his underwear as he went. "It just takes a bit of time for people to recover. Normally."

"Oh." Ankh looked down with a glare, as if he could change things with pure willpower, which he might have been able to if Eiji hadn't sat down next to him and pulled him in for a kiss.

"I'm glad you liked it, I…" Eiji sucked in a breath as Ankh slid his hand down, running it over the bulge in his underwear.

"You have an unhealthy obsession with those things." The words were delivered with a serious frown, and Eiji didn't protest as Ankh divested him of his last garment.

Naked. Naked together. On a bed. He shouldn't fumble, but somehow this was a bit harder. He had always had an easier time giving than receiving, focusing on someone else was how he stopped hesitating after all. Not that any hesitation would have stopped Ankh. It was a relief really, to just lay back and realize that Ankh was right. This felt… amazing. Or, well, he honestly thought that anything would have felt amazing as long as he could watch Ankh doing it, because the focus with which the Greed did things was fascinating. Especially if said thing was playing with his cock.

"Ankh…" Eiji tried to look away, but it was impossible. He wanted to see those thin lips curl around him the way he had guiltily pictured every time Ankh bit down on another ice cream. He wanted to see long, thin fingers curl around his shaft, working it, Ankh's eyes meeting his own, that faint smirk as he pulled back, hand still working, getting far too close… "Ankh!"

"What?" Ankh didn't pause, just kept working him, lips a breath from the head of his cock, close enough that his breath chilled the wet surface.

"You should stop now. Really." Eiji couldn't look away, he knew he should but… "I can't… seriously, you should pull back, or something. I'm serious!"

But Ankh didn't move, and he didn't stop, he just kept smirking and Eiji couldn't hold it. Not now. It had been too many months. Too much lost time. Even if it meant that he hit Ankh right in the face. And in the hair. That carefully coiffured hair.

"What the…" The Greed's eyes had gone wide, and he dragged his fingertips along his now wet cheek, looking annoyed while Eiji was struggling to get his breath back.

"I'm sorry…" The words were honest even if he couldn't stop himself from smiling. "I didn't mean to…"

"Hmh." Ankh looked at his sticky fingers, then sucked them off, one by one. The look on his face was one of utter focus, as if he was deciding exactly how annoyed he was supposed to be at this development. "It's fine," he said at last. "It has an interesting taste."

"I'm glad…" Eiji let out the breath he was holding as Ankh slid down next to him, limbs intertwining in a way that felt more natural than he had expected. He decided to tell Ankh about his hair later.

He was far too comfortable to dodge the inevitable blow that would result.


	8. Touch

The fabric isn't right. The sun is too sharp. The air is too humid. Everything smells of green and mud and Ankh loves it. Every single little discomfort.

Not that he shows it. That wouldn't do. Eiji's got a smile wide enough for both of them when he apologizes to the woman and pays with what little money he has left. Stupid. They could just have taken the clothes and walked away. Nobody here could have stopped them. Nobody here even knew them, but for some reason paying matters to Eiji so he'd indulges it like he does so many of the man's strange habits. Not that he really needed the clothes either, especially since they were clothes that weren't perfectly right. Not what he wanted. But Eiji wanted him to have them, and there's so few things that he wants that Ankh figures he can put up with it.

"Ankh, wait up!" Eiji catches up with a breath stuck in his throat, or maybe there is something else wrong with him, because he pauses and flushes when Ankh actually stops and turns around.

Not that he needed to do that. He could just have kept walking. Could have trusted Eiji to keep up like he always did, infuriatingly persistent in the face of everything. But he had chosen to stop, because it was a choice, and choices were important. He had chosen to stop, and then turn and huff and hide the smile as Eiji's blush grew deeper because he had to amuse himself somehow.

"We don't really need to become wanted criminals for a pair of pants and a shirt, these people have to make a living too." They had fallen in step again, side by side, though Eiji had to lengthen his stride to keep up.

"We're already wanted thanks to you." Ankh tosses out the words carelessly, because he knows they will get Eiji to shut up long enough to drop the subject. They had left the first village they had arrived in at first light, hitching a ride on a truck heading for the local market. Eiji had kept looking over his shoulder all the way, but had refused to talk about who it was that were chasing him.

"I suppose…" Eiji trailed off like he always did, getting that cautious tenseness around his shoulders that set Ankh's teeth on edge.

Too much about the man was raw and Ankh couldn't trust himself to know the wounds. Not yet. Things were still too bright. Too strange. He had a body again but it was not something he was used to. Possessing the detective had given him a new insight into how humans worked, and together with his own desire for life it had been enough to re-map his new body into a passable simulacrum. He could see things clearly still. The colors of the clothes that he had taken and Eiji had paid for. Red. White. Unfamiliar patterns but the colors ran true. The fabrics did not. Too loose. Too soft. No armor.

"So, want to change?" The shift of subject came like Ankh had expected it too.

"You won't shut up until I do." It wasn't a question, and Ankh wasn't sure why it was so important to the man. He had mumbled something about the fact that Ankh technically was walking around naked, but had failed to make his case clearly because the thought obviously distracted him. It distracted Ankh too, if nothing else because of the memories of what had happened last night.

"That alley maybe?" Eiji pointed into one of the many winding streets that surrounded them, leading Ankh into the shadows of the rickety buildings. "I'll keep watch."

"I'm sure." At least the face works like it used to, Ankh can feel the smirk, and see Eiji's reaction to it before the man quickly turns around. So many things that he has kept.

So many things that he has lost. Ankh allows his concentration to waver for a moment as Eiji's back is turned. He can smell the alley. He can smell the manure. A bit of piss. The shadows are cool. The clothes in his hands are not right but they will do. Maybe Eiji had a point. It is an effort to form clothes, an affront to what he has learned about the human form. Armor inherent in the form is a Greed trait, an expression of power. Power he does not have. Too few core medals and nowhere to find more. He shouldn't even have a body, but he wanted one, and here he is. Not whole. Never whole. But he can feel the chill on his skin when he drops the facade of fabric. The way his feet settle against the ground. The way his balls tighten slightly. His body reacts differently than the detective's; he had noticed that last night. Everything is not the way it was, but it will have to do.

Like the pants. Soft. Silky. Something Eiji might have worn. Shorter than he would like. His feet feel odd in the sandals. No points. No claws. The long shirt sits on his back like wings, and maybe this is not as bad as he had imagined. Maybe he doesn't need armor right now. Maybe he can allow himself to feel the lightness on his skin. Aware. Too aware. Eiji is staring at his back and soon he will reach out to touch, so Ankh turns around and steps forward instead. Causes the man to step back. Look a little taken off guard by the fierceness of the move.

"You look good." Eiji stumbles over the words, and Ankh can see the way his face shifts. The way he can't keep his gaze. The way his eyes slide down to Ankh's lips. Lip's he can't help but curl in a smile.

"I look better without." The reaction comes, just like he had planned. Eiji's gaze flickers downwards, and Ankh steps close enough to almost kiss. Not quite. Stealing a breath and a brush of lips.

"We… should…" Eiji swallows but he holds his ground, leans in to kiss back.

Passion. Desire. The desire that had brought Ankh back as surely as any ritual. That would have made Ankh smile into the kiss had he not been busy devouring the other man's lips. The desire that makes his own body reacts so much stronger than the detective's. Harden. Skin on skin through thin, red cotton. There were so many variants of touch that he hadn't explored yet. It had mostly been violence that had been the cause for physical contact with Eiji in the past. A supporting shoulder through the pain. Fists and anger. The heavy limpness of unconsciousness. A restraining hand. Not this. Not the soft brush of fingertips over his arm. Not the quiet heat of their chests pressed together. So many flavors of touch. So many memories of how it had felt last night.

"I want you." The words are out, plain in the way Ankh growls them, and in the way that his hands wander up Eiji's back, searching for the spine under the soft shirt so he could trace it with his claws.

"Well…" Eiji tries to talk through the shiver, determination surfacing once more. "I want you too. Really. But there's a bus out of here in half an hour. We'll miss it…"

"No, we won't."


	9. Truth

They did not miss the buss, but only because they ran the last bit, out of breath with faces flushed from other reasons than exertion. Ankh spends the journey staring out the window with Eiji crowded up against him, chatting away with some children. Now and then he would nudge Ankh a little and translate some new tidbit he had learned. Ankh simply huffed and shrugged, not really bothering to listen. Words weren't important. The feeling of Eiji next to him was. Anchor. Heat. The smell on him still on the hand he leaned his chin against as he watched the scenery pass by. There had been a moment there when he had felt…

No. Not lost.  
Not again.  
Whole.  
He was whole.

He kept telling himself that as the bus bounced along the bad road. He kept telling himself that as the traffic grew heavier, then thinner, and then…

"Eiji!" Roadblock. Trucks waiting with the engines running. Men with guns in cover.

The first shots fired are warning shots but people scream in panic all the same and Ankh catches a glimpse of the visceral fear that he had never quite understood lurking under the surface of Eiji. The widening of the dark eyes. A momentary breath sucked in and held, frozen in panic before his jaw clenches and he starts to move.

But Ankh moves first. He is pushed up against the window already so his armored hand smashes through the glass as if it wasn't there as he reaches for the roof. Claws dig into metal and he swings out and up, wind tearing at his clothes as he looks around to get the lay of the land. Eiji is a step behind and requires a hand up, face still set in quiet determination.

"They won't hesitate to shoot again," Eiji shouts, the frantic pleading more visible on his face than in his voice. "We need to get off the bus."

The wings hurt when Ankh brings them forth, but it is a good hurt. A single burning flash of almost touching the sky with Eiji is in his arms and then they land on the road, lands and rolls, leaving skin on pavement.

He had meant to keep them aloft. He really had.

Instead they make a scramble for the forest as the first bullets whizz past and Ankh feels that this idiocy has gone on long enough. He will not traipse around the greenery for days again, this time in sandals.

"Eiji!" He tosses the medals hard, and maybe there's something in the tone of his voice that changes things, because Eiji grabs them in the air and after a moment's hesitation turns to face their enemy, the heat of the transformation turning bullets to slag before they hit.

Lion. Tora. Cheetah.

Light. Too bright. Ankh shields his face with his arm as he tries to dispel the spots. It was the best combination he could think of on the spur of the moment even if he disliked leading with combos. Lion to blind and confuse the enemy, Cheetah with Tiger to take them out fast.

"Ankh, keep them safe!" Words left behind in the air as OOO speeds off.

Safe. Them? Oh, the bus is still speeding, the panicked driver as blinded as the soldiers. Typical. The annoyed huff comes without effort, but the wings does not. They hurt, and he hisses with pain as they carry him up and forward again, more leap than flight. It doesn't matter though; the end result is the same.

The shift to full greed form makes him heavy enough to crash through the front window of the bus with no damage, but he can't hold it more than a moment before he shivers back into infuriatingly soft and sensitive flesh. People scream and it is jarring and thrilling at the same time. The bus driver doesn't protest as he yanks him from the seat and steps on the breaks. Possibly because he was knocked unconscious as Ankh crashed through the window. Oh well. Eiji should be happy all the same.

—-

Eiji is not happy, but he is hiding it well. For some reason he had always seemed bothered by people looking at him in fear. Even letting the OOOs armor fade does not change the fact that the children no longer want to joke with him, and Ankh feels a sting of unfamiliar pain. He does not like seeing Eiji disturbed; it brings with it too many memories.

Memories of Eiji standing alone, looking at nothing, face frighteningly blank, mouth faintly curved in displeasure. It never failed, the moment he noticed someone watching him the frown would fade, turn into a smile, eyes narrowing into amusement. Only rarely had he spotted Ankh though, and maybe that was one reason why he had become so fascinated with the human.

Two faces. Two people. One worn in public, one in private. It was an intriguing notion for a Greed who was nothing but surface. Their feelings went to the core of their being, but Eiji… was different. Even the memories of the detective whose body he had worn at the time only held a distant sadness when he tried to use them to figure out what that unsmiling face might mean. It had been infuriating then. It was still infuriating now.

"They wanted to kill you, don't tell me you're angry that I took their money." Ankh looks over at Eiji where he sits behind the wheel of the jeep. It had made sense. Staying on the bus had not been possible. A jeep gave them transportation, and the money Ankh had lifted from the pockets would serve them better than the few coins remaining in Eiji's pocket. But Eiji is unhappy all the same. He supposes that he should at least be pleased that this is now a face the man is not afraid to wear in front of him.

"I'm not too happy about it," Eiji admits with a sheepish smile that fails to dispel the tenseness of his shoulders. "But thank you for saving the bus."

"Hmph." Ankh doesn't deign that with an answer. That particular kind of arithmetic just seemed odd to him. If it was wrong to steal the money, it did not make it less wrong just because he saved some people.

"How do you feel?" The question is cautious, and Ankh does his best to ignore it until the silence becomes too annoying even for him.

"Who knows?" He shrugs a little, watching Eiji now that the man is forced to keep his eyes on the road as the traffic turns heavy and the buildings taller where they line the side of the road.

"It sounded like it hurt." The words are small, falling one by one from Eiji's lips, filled with constrained worry. "Your wings…"

"I'm fine." Ankh shifted again, putting his foot up on the dashboard. Outside the car, the buildings roll past, slower and slower until they have come to a full stop at the side of the road. There's nothing there, no reason for their pause, and it takes Ankh a moment to realize that Eiji is shivering behind the wheel.

No. Not shivering. Crying.

Not overtly, just shallow little breaths fighting for control. Ankh watches his shoulders shake and tense, the way he fiercely stares straight ahead, the engine idling. The traffic didn't drown enough of the pain for Ankh to be able to ignore it until it went away. For a moment he ponders smacking Eiji on the back of the head calling him an idiot. But it doesn't feel right somehow.

This is the hard part. Touch is easy. Desire is easy. Pain like this… it's hard. Maybe if he had been Mezuul originally it would have come naturally, but he was not. He was Ankh, and this was something he had chosen, something he was trying to remake himself into. Something… no, someone that could understand why Eiji suddenly would fight to not burst into tears. Someone that would know enough to fix it. Because he already could not help but feel it.

"You didn't mess me up." It is the closest thing to an educated guess Ankh can think of, and from the way Eiji leans his forehead against the steering wheel he is not altogether wrong.

"Really?" Eiji doesn't sound like he believes Ankh, let alone himself. "I heard you. Just like back when… I heard you." He repeats the words instead of continuing, because neither of them needs to be reminded of the scene. Ankh trying to form a shape of his own again, failing miserably after a few seconds, forced to take refugee back with the detective against everybody's will.

"You brought me back." Ankh knows he sounds angry now, and that is because he is. He wanted to ignore this, why couldn't Eiji let him? "But I still don't have all my core medals. I'm not as powerful as I could be."

"But you're not about to fall apart?" Eiji has turned now, is looking at him with hope and disbelief.

"I'm not about to fall apart." Ankh reaches out and wills it to be true because it has to be. Any other option is impossible. He manifests his claw with a grimace that turns into a smirk, cupping Eiji's chin. "You should know by now that this body is pretty solid."

The reaction tells Ankh that it had been the right thing to say. Some of the tenseness in Eiji's shoulders fade and his eyes clears of shadows. At least for the moment, and the moment is everything that matters right now. The feel of skin warming under his hand. The slight twitch of Eiji's facial muscles as he forces a smile that becomes a reality a moment later.

"I think…" the relief is palpable in the way Eiji reaches up to cup Ankh's gloved hand in both of his own. "I think we'd better make really sure of that once we find somewhere to sleep."

Maybe it is supposed to be a joke. Ankh is not sure; cocking his head a little to try to judge what reaction is needed. In the end he decides not to give a crap and roll his eyes.

At least that way he makes Eiji laugh instead.


	10. Taste

The shower is hot. Hot enough to scold Ankh's skin and make it flush as the blood rushes to the surface. Another thing remembered. Another little sign that this body is right, if not as durable as he would alike.

Things remembered.  
Things realized.

He had gotten hungry earlier. That had never happened when he had possessed the detective. At first he had eaten because people had urged him to, then because he had learned to love the taste. But hunger? That deep, wretched feeling had only been for medals before. Not food. How much had he changed? It had felt good to eat. Not just because Eiji was smiling again, wearing his pleasant face as other people were watching. Not just because the taste had been strong and spicy, not as sweet as he would have liked, but it was there. Stayed on his tongue with a burning feeling, like the way the sun had marked his skin even when night fell.

Residual heat. Like the one from Eiji's hands, somehow hotter than the water streaming down on them.

It was cramped in the shower, but he hadn't argued when Eiji had made his way inside as well, or when he turned down the heat to something bearable after a pained little dance when he tried to put up with Ankh's chosen temperature. The steam had filled the bathroom, the glass door to the shower open behind them. It wouldn't have been room to move if it had been shut. Not room to cling tightly and Eiji did just that. Held Ankh tight and close under the spray of water, rocking him gently back and forth.

It was almost soothing. Ankh had to admit that. Too much sensory input. Water on his skin. Breathing steam. Eiji pressed against him. Mumbling little things drowned out by the water. Ankh didn't ask him to speak up, it didn't seem to be anything that required his input, just words. Eiji's words. And maybe he should listen closer to those after all, so when the man holding him clears his throat he does just that.

"Are you ever afraid?" Eiji's voice is hardly more than a mumble, black hair plastered against his scalp.

"No." Ankh is not sure whether that is helpful, so he adds. "I was. When the imposter was about. When I risked losing myself. But he is destroyed."

"Not even when… when you died?" Eiji's lips against his face. Soft touches. Lapping at the water as if he had been a cat. Ankh suppresses the shiver because this is not Cazali.

"No." Ankh rests his forehead against Eiji's, wondering what the man was aiming for. "Ceasing to be would have been annoying. Actually dying would have been… a victory I suppose." Proving that he was someone. Not something. "Loss of identity is far worse." Feeling himself sink into the imposter's self, fighting for purchase, for something to cling to.

He doesn't realize that he is shivering until Eiji tightens his grip and he stops.

"I'm sorry." Eiji whispers softly, turning off the water since the heat is fading. "I didn't mean to upset you." He kisses Ankh's cheek again which earns him an annoyed huff.

"I am not upset." Because he is not afraid. Has nothing to be afraid of anymore. He is here and he is himself. Ankh is sure of that at least.

"You're crying…" Eiji is frowning, all soft focus now, all his attention on Ankh. It is something to bask in, and Ankh wishes he could do that, but there is a statement made which is wrong and needs to be amended.

"I'm not crying." Ankh rolls his eyes when Eiji kisses his cheek again.

"You taste like salt."

Ankh reaches up and touches his own face. Wet cheeks, but they are in a shower. They don't mean anything. Why should his eyes burn anyway?

"Come, let's get dry." Warm hands. Eiji's hands, sure of themselves now like they always were when taking care of someone. Not that he needed to be taken care of. Not that he minded it. It would have been stupid to mind attention.

Maybe once. When he had still been fighting the unfamiliarity of affection. When had things changed? As Eiji towels off them both, Ankh thinks back, tries to pinpoint the exact moment.

The purple medals. That must have been it. Those things which held a wrongness he had never been able to properly express to Eiji because the human lacked the means to sense their void. Or maybe the void inside Eiji had been too similar, had called out so loudly that they flew to him despite everybody's wishes. Dr Maki wanted them back. Ankh wanted them out. And Eiji… could not let go at first, then he would not. They were gone now, but…

"What are you thinking about?" Eiji's voice, carefully soft, just for the two of them, the bathroom leaking steam out into the small hotel room. He had a towel around his waist now, his body much like Ankh remembered it. It had been etched into his memories, too many nights of being half asleep in his nest, watching the human undress for bed.

"Did I save you?" Ankh doesn't realize the words are out until they are spoken, drawn out of him like so many little gestures he never intended, spurred by the urge to fill the void inside the man.

"What do you mean?" Eiji pulled him over to the bed and sat him down, toweling his hair dry with comfortably familiar movements though he had never done this before.

What did he mean? Ankh hesitates a moment, melts back into the fingers massaging his scalp. He could have dried himself with a change and a shake, he might still have to do it later when he wants his hair to behave like he wants to. But for now this is a comfort, the sheets are cool against his scalded skin, Eiji a warm presence behind him.

"The purple medals…" Explaining himself is not something Ankh is used to, but he has come to realize that sometimes he needs to if he is to get the answers he wants. Find the right query for the search box, but smartphones were easier than people. Easier than Eiji.

"They're gone." The pause had been too long, and Eiji had stepped in to fill it. "When the… future you I suppose, long story, gave me some medals back, they weren't among them."

"I wanted…" Ankh hesitates again, his armored hand flickering back on, curling in annoyance. "They were wrong. I wanted to save you. They shouldn't have you." Insufficient words for feelings that had confused him at the time.

He had tried to get them out. Had tried trickery and force. Had risked his own existence to snap Eiji out of his rampage though… yes. He had been scared then as well, hadn't he? Scared of the axe. Scared of the nothingness in front of him. The corrosion so barely held in check. His armor smoking from mere contact, matching Eiji's strength, forcing a moment's hesitation so he could force the man to change back.

"Ankh…" The words are accompanied by a kiss to his shoulder, and Eiji's tanned limbs wrapping around him from behind in an embrace. "They're gone. You did save me. You…"

"Bullshit!" The anger comes from nowhere but is sharp and hard and bright and just what Ankh needs. He tears himself out of the embrace that threatens to break him in ways he doesn't understand, eyes burning again. Anger is far more familiar. "If they are gone why is there still a hole?"

"Hole?" The look on Eiji's face is one of confusion and a bit of guilt as he presses a hand against his chest. "Ankh, I…"

"Don't give me that look!" Ankh hates that look because it hurts. Because it hits him where he has no armor. Has no defense other than attack. "I saw it. You are doing it again, pretending. Lying. Just like back then. Saying one thing but wanting something else. Wanting to be gone."

"No." Eiji is on his feet now as well, eyes hardening in determination. "I don't want disappear. Not anymore. Not like that." He steps close, and Ankh can't step back, the wall is cool behind him. "I promise. It's just…"

"It's just what?" Ankh holds on to the anger, matching Eiji's stare. How often had they stood like this? As strangers at first. As rivals. As allies. As enemies. As partners. As friends. And now? As lovers? The stares remained the same. Opposing forces, and Ankh loves the way that there is a limit to how far Eiji can be pushed.

"It's part of who I am." Eiji is as always the one that calms down first, doesn't budge but turns reasonable. "As a human. As a person. I can't just erase what happened in the past. I can just let it heal."

"Heal…" Eiji has no shirt to take hold of, so instead Ankh places his hands on the man's shoulders which somehow make the gesture softer and more personal. "But you are doing that? Healing?" Healing he could understand. Being broken he could understand. The thought that the hole inside the man in front of him might get filled in time was… yes, it was a good thought. A good feeling.

"I am." Eiji is smiling now, a real smile, the one that hid nothing of the heart behind it. "I really am. You did save me. I couldn't give them up before. Not until…" The way he paused and sucked in a deep breath might mean so many things, but he continued before Ankh could decide exactly what. "When you gave me your cracked core medal." He swallowed hard, blinking his eyes. "I could use them then. Use them for what they wanted. Destroy something. Without them destroying me. I wasn't…"

"You were still prepared to die," Ankh pointed out, but softer.

"So were you." Eiji says it with a smile despite the shine in his eyes. "You really were. To save everyone."

"To save you," Ankh clarified, feeling the frown growing as he tried to navigate the conflicting feelings on Eiji's face. "And her," he admitted after a moment's hesitation.

"That's good enough." Eiji nods vigorously and reaches up to cup Ankh's chin in his hands. "We're here. We're alive. The world is safe. That's good enough, right?"

"I suppose it has to be." There was a brittleness there that Ankh could smell, but choose to not comment on.

For now.


	11. Discoveries

Soft hair.  
Soft and pale.  
Like the first light of dawn.  
Ankh's head is heavy on Eiji's shoulder.

Peace. Eiji is not sure when he has felt that last. Not like this. Not this deep contentment. Something had changed last night, broken maybe, though it was a break that needed to happen. Ankh had cried, at least he was almost sure of it. The Greed had denied it, but… maybe former Greed was a better name. Or just Ankh. Human? He could imagine the protests that would cause if he said that out loud. But he doesn't need to say it, just like he doesn't need the things most people take for granted. What he needed was what Ankh gave him after all, in ways he probably didn't even realize.

Need. He had started to understand that last night. He was needed. Ankh needed him every bit as much as Eiji needed him. Not that he thought there would be any confessions of love. No vows. Nothing more than what they already had; Ankh's head on Eiji's shoulder, a skinny arm thrown haphazardly across his chest. Breath that tickled his neck. And heartbeats. Two of them. Still strange enough to take his breath away, and stranger still when Ankh mutters something in his sleep and the change slowly creeps over his arm, transforming it from flesh to armour. Did he have a nightmare? The claws bite into his chest and Eiji sucks in a cry and shifts the hand instead. It twitches in his hand like a wild animal.

"Ankh?" The hand stills, the armour fades.

"Mhm?" The mumble is a sleepy one, whatever dreams that haunted him left behind.

"I've been thinking…" Eiji lets go of Ankh's hand, stroking it with his fingertips as he waits for the familiar tension of wakefulness to appear in the languid Greed. "Do you want to go back home? Back to everybody?"

There is a pause there that causes Eiji's heart to race before he realizes that the hesitation is most likely due to Ankh not being fully awake yet. The Greed shifts and yawns, stretching like a cat though Eiji is pretty sure he would resent the comparison.

"Home…" Ankh pulls himself up and drapes himself over Eiji, all angles and limbs and sharp, sharp elbows. Light. Maybe too light a weight on his chest, but he's still there, still comfortable. Warm. "I am home."

The blush comes before Eiji has a chance to stop it, followed by an embarrassed laugh. But he can't look away, because Ankh has him trapped, nose to nose, no way of escaping the terrible earnestness of those words.

"I mean…" Eiji starts, swallowing hard. "I mean back to Japan. To see everybody."

"I would like to see my nest again," Ankh says, still pondering Eiji's face as if he was trying to decipher every minute flicker of emotion.

"Good. Because I sort of promised Hina I would. She… she missed you too." He can't be sure what the look on Ankh's face means, but he settles for cautious happiness. At least there are no protests or grimaces.

"And the detective?" Ankh asks a question that Eiji honestly hadn't anticipated. It had never been in his nature to ask about others before, but then again, maybe both their natures were changing now that they weren't under the kind of insane pressure that their year together in Tokyo had brought. Carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders.

"Shingo is okay with it." Eiji smiled a little, voice softening. It still felt odd talking about him this personally, but Ankh wouldn't have been able to be brought back if it hadn't been for him. At least not like this. Like he remembered. Another thing he would tell Ankh later. Much later.

"Not that I care," Ankh quickly clarified, grinding his hips against Eiji's, the kiss quietening both their moans. "It's morning now. You said we'd continue in the morning."

"You'll wear me out." Eiji laughs as he protests, because it's a half-hearted one. Even if Ankh did manage to do that, he wouldn't mind. He could understand the former Greed's desperation for touch, just the brief experience he had with it when he was slowly sinking into purple nothingness had made him more aware of what an important thing it was. And he had waited a year and a half for this, never knowing when he would succeed in his intentions, never knowing what Ankh would feel when he was brought back.

Eiji knew very well how lucky he was.

Lucky to be able to touch Ankh's skin at last. To trace the sharp angles of the shoulder blades, the raised pebbles of the spine. Too skinny. Had he been as skinny when he had been wearing Shingo's body? He didn't know, and just thinking about it made him feel vaguely uneasy. It had been so complicated back then. Ankh had chided him for never getting around to admitting that he wanted him back then but…

It hadn't been that easy. It had been Hina's brother he had strange feelings about, Hina's brother's body poured into far too tight jeans, Hina's brother's lips he couldn't stop looking at. How could he have… the answer was simple. He could not. Not when he had promised to bring Shingo back to Hina. Not when he had promised to do that even if it meant he had to fight Ankh. Even if he had to break his own heart to do it.

"Pay attention!" Ankh's voice was followed by a sharp bite to his shoulder, causing Eiji to yelp loudly.

"Sorry…" He willed himself to open his eyes and smile, to stay here in the moment rather than slide back towards the past. He had lived there for too long already. Instead he wrapped his legs around Ankh, grinding their hips together again, smiling a little as he saw the former Greed's eyes relax in pleasure. "I'll make it up to you."

"Damn right you will." Ankh did a little ghost thrust, causing Eiji's smile to catch in his throat as he hardened. Too many implications.

They hadn't gone further than mouths and hands. Had seen to need to. Eiji wasn't sure what he wanted yet, and for Ankh, it seemed that as long as the sensations were intense enough he was happy. And they had time now. Time to figure things out at their own pace. He hoped.

No. He believed.

Shifting his weight, he rolled them both over ending up on top, feeling Ankh tense, his face contorting in a reflexive snarl before it turned into a blissful groan as Eiji slipped his hand down. Ankh's reflexes were still cued to battle, and Eiji could understand that. Took it as a challenge to unlock the frown, to make him burrow back in the pillows with a pleased grunt as he spread his legs a little to provide Eiji access.

It was surprisingly natural really. Eiji had thought it would feel… maybe more complicated? Maybe he should be a bit ashamed of what he wanted? But he had never really managed to fit in with what he should feel, had always been more interested in other people than in how he was perceived. When he was younger there had been pressure, sure, his family was well known, and he was already considered an eccentric. But while being a humanitarian might be a bit of an odd a life choice for the son of a successful politician, being gay was… well, unthinkable.

And here he was with his lips wrapped around another man's cock, tugging a bit at a pair of warm and relaxed balls. Maybe it was lucky that he didn't really talk to his family anymore. Not since last year's O-higan, when he had made time to visit the family tomb. He supposed he might be disrespecting his ancestors just thinking about that while doing this. So be it. He had shed the trappings of his past life as penance, and had never figured he would have someone with which to share the ruins that remained. And now he had. Someone impatient.

"You're a damn tease!" Ankh's accusation came with an angry glare as he propped himself up on his elbows, growling in frustration as Eiji had pulled back again so the sensations wouldn't be too intense and the ending come too fast.

"I suppose so." Eiji felt the smile come unbidden. Maybe razing his life to the ground had been the stupid, self-destructive act that people had accused him off. But the ground was just bare, not barren. He could rebuild. Rebuild it into something he wanted, and OOO had been the first building block there. OOO and Ankh.

"Well, you said you'd make things up for me. Stop smirking and get to work." Ankh's words were crude. Demanding. Honest.

Eiji felt his smile go wider as he sucked a finger into his mouth, watching Ankh watching him intently. Hungrily. He had never cared for mirrors, and now Ankh provided all the reflections that he needed.

"Just lay back and relax," he urged, easing one slim leg to the side so he could press the tip of his finger against… Eiji found himself hard pressed to even think that sentence, there weren't really any words to describe… any good words anyway. Not ones that described how surprisingly warm it felt, how soft, the sphincter giving a little as he increased the pressure.

Would Ankh slap him? Probably not. It would be a fist, but that was okay. Eiji nodded to himself in determination as he eased the finger inside, watching Ankh's face as it went through a surprising array of emotions, preparing just a little for the inevitable blow. But it didn't come, instead there was a frown, a grimace and a gasp, the muscle holding his finger so tightly he thought that maybe it was constricting the flow of blood. But no punch, just a tenseness that made him wary, eyebrows shooting up in a worried look, getting an annoyed hiss in return.

The annoyance shifted when he moved his finger, just a little, the saliva making it slick enough that it could settle in properly. Held tight. So warm. He wasn't sure if it was Ankh's or his own pulse that he could feel. It didn't matter. What did matter was the reaction when he shifted a little so he could bring his mouth down again, causing a shiver to go through Ankh's body. His armoured hand had flickered to life again, claws buried in the bed, and luckily the mattress were foam that just scrunched and punctured and did not rip. Ankh pushed up when he sucked deeper, the movement making his finger slide in deeper as well until his knuckles rested snugly against Ankh, finger curling a little to adapt.

It was a magnificent spectacle to watch. Eiji found himself sneaking glances when he could, past the flat, twitching stomach, up to Ankh's face, completely lost now. Focused not on him, but on the sensations he provided. It was… maybe this was a power that Eiji could love without feeling conflicted about it, because being able to do something like this for another person could never be wrong.

He made it last as long as he could.


	12. Suggestions

"I suppose that we can sell the jeep for cash." Eiji snuck a glance at Ankh in the mirror as he washed his spare pair of underwear in the bathroom sink. They had needed another shower after their exertions this morning, and as it was unlikely they would stay another night, he had decided to take advantage of the luxuries while they had them.

"Hmm?" Ankh looked amused as he preened over Eiji's shoulder, making sure that his hair looked the way he wanted to. "And here you didn't even want me to take it."

"I don't like stealing," Eiji admitted, following Ankh's fingers as they buttoned the loose shirt. Their bodies kept brushing together in the small bathroom, making the air feel electric. "But I have to say that they deserved it. And we need money for the ticket home."

Ankh hadn't asked again about the people hunting them, but he felt the curious look as he looked down and focused on his underwear. Ankh wanted answers. Wanted the truth. But the truth wasn't important here; it was just something that he wanted to forget. Shake off. Soon they would be back in japan and far out of reach. He hoped. The fact that he had been forced to transform into OOOs last time meant that maybe there would be more than men with guns next time. If he let there be a next time.

"Money…" Ankh huffed again, pressing closer to Eiji since he was finished dressing. "Whatever, you deal with it."

Ankh's bare hands slid over Eiji's equally bare midriff. He was still wearing nothing but his underwear, and the feeling of the fully dressed man behind him was enough to make him sigh a little wistfully as he pressed back. It had just been an hour since they'd left each other breathless on the bed, but Ankh's skin was a new addiction. But he needed to keep his head clear now, needed to focus on what was important.

Even if he wanted nothing more than just crawl back into bed and stay there.

"I was thinking…" Eiji's voice cracked a little, because Ankh's hand had slid lower, teasing him through his boxers. It wasn't enough to make him harden yet, but the twitches made it difficult to think. "We need to… I mean I have a passport, but you…" … didn't technically exist. "Can you still transform into just an arm?" It was the only thing he could think of to get the greed past customs. A souvenir, like the masks that Yuusuke always made sure to pick up.

It was only when Ankh pulled back his hand with a hiss that he realized he might have said something wrong.

"Fuck you for even suggesting that!" Harsh words, an even harsher stare, and Ankh stomped out of the bathroom followed by an apologetic Eiji.

"I'm sorry," Eiji tried, reaching out for Ankh only to have his hand slapped away. "I don't know how to get a fake passport, and you can't just sneak on a plane. That way you could pass as luggage, it would just be for a few hours." It made sense, maybe it wasn't dignified, but it would get them back and why was Ankh looking at him like that?

Like he just had his heart torn out and stomped on? Like he was pondering doing the literal act to Eiji?

"what?" Eiji just managed to get the word out before Ankh's face hardened and his arm flickered into armour a second before it smashed into Eiji's gut.

It hurt, more so because it was completely unexpected. Eiji stumbled backwards as he tried to catch a breath, watching Ankh pull back, eyes wide, mouth a tight line. There was a moment there of hesitation, then the former Greed simply huffed and stormed from the room, the door slammed open so hard it nearly bounced back in his head.

"Ankh!" Eiji found the breath he had been looking for, running after Ankh out in the hallway. "Wait a second…"

His words had no effect. Eiji could feel the same horror curling in his gut as when Ankh had reformed the first time, and his first act had been walking over to Shingo and nearly strangle the man before his control faded and his body dissolved once more. Something was going horribly wrong, and time slowed down and he could see Ankh looking back over his shoulder as he ran, a quick glance, revealing a haunted face, eyes nearly black. Maybe this was a dream again; maybe he was having a nightmare, because Ankh reached the open window at the end of the hallway and jumped through it without a second thought.

They were on the third floor.

Eiji nearly knocked over the guests who were just stepping out of the elevator in his hurry, but once he'd reached the window, any trace of Ankh was already gone.

It was only then he realized that he was still just in his underwear. And that the two complete strangers who had started to curse at him had stopped and were now looking rather embarrassed, at least the woman. She was blushing wildly, looking away, while the man looked like he wasn't sure what to do, except keep cursing in a language Eiji didn't know.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I'm really, really sorry." English. French. Japanese. The bow was quick, repeated once, and then he ran back to the room without waiting for a reply.

Ankh was gone. Clothes. He needed clothes. Pants. Shirt. Shoes and they took too long but he had no choice and Ankh was already gone and what had he said? What had even happened? Grabbing keys and phone he rushed out again, glad that the corridor at least was empty this time. He had no time for arguments.

Except he was having one now, wasn't he? An argument? With Ankh? Except you couldn't have an argument with someone who wasn't there and why had he run off instead of attacking like he normally did? Was what he had done so much worse? What had he even done?

The stairs are faster than the elevator, but it leaves him out of breath once he reaches the street, more from panic than exhaustion. Two directions. Ankh could be anywhere. What had he…

… oh.

Eiji feels his knees give out before they do, and manage to sit down instead of topple over, resting his back against a wall. People had to move around him, but he couldn't move, not right now. He needed to breathe first. Think. Because he had… he hadn't been thinking. At all.

Ankh was more than just a hand now. He was whole. Had a body. And Eiji had suggested that he'd give that up. Even if he could recreate himself. And what if he couldn't? What if he had agreed and then… the thought was too much to process. He just hadn't been thinking. He had been too used to Ankh being just a hand. Detaching himself when it was handy. But he hadn't done that since… and he couldn't even be sure this body would last, could he? Ankh was probably worried. Maybe even scared. And Eiji had treated him like… well, a thing.

He really was an idiot, but for once Ankh was not around to tell him so.

—-

It took a while, even after Eiji had managed to get to his feet. It took a while to get his head together. Start breathing. Start looking.

High places. Parks. That's where he usually ended up. He didn't know this city, but neither did Ankh, so he went with what he could see. Tried to guess where the former Greed would have stormed off to. Tried to resist the urge to transform and take to the rooftops and look from up there. Instead he walked. Ran for a bit. Walked back. Looked elsewhere. Even shouted, though that gave him strange looks.

But it took a while. And he didn't find Ankh in a tree. Or on a building.

He found him hunched on a bench at the edge of a small park, eating an ice cream. Sitting on the backrest. Feet on the seat. Eyes distant.

Eiji didn't run up to him immediately, because there was that fear that Ankh might run again. That he had ruined something good. Something important. So he watched. Ankh stared straight ahead, focused on the ice cream. He didn't move. He didn't look over in Eiji's direction. Why was it so hard to make his feet take that first step forward? It shouldn't be. He was sorry. So sorry. But if he didn't say, Ankh wouldn't know. And for him to know he had to walk over there.

Walk over and sit down.  
The bench had room enough for two.

"I… didn't think." Eiji started, perched on the edge of the bench, because Ankh sprawled over most of it.

"Obviously." Ankh looked away, but moved his foot so there would be room for Eiji to sit properly.

More room. Eiji didn't dare to move closer. Instead he looked down at Ankh's feet. They were bare, he had left without his sandals. A bit dirty. Neat toenails. Human feet. They made his heart break a little more.

"I won't do it!" Ankh broke the silence when Eiji failed to find the words. He looked over at him when Eiji was afraid to do anything but look down.

"I know." Eiji's sigh was so heavy that it felt like his lungs would implode, but he did manage to look up, meeting Ankh's carefully guarded look. "I should never have suggested it."

"Damn right." Emotions twitched over Ankh's angular face, faster than Eiji could keep up. Anger? Disappointment? Fear? Relief? He wasn't sure what was really there and what he was just imagining. "I am not a thing."

"I love you, you now?" Eiji was as surprised at the words coming out of his mouth as Ankh, but there were no room for lies there, not now. He had faced down more frightening monsters than his own emotions.

"eh?" Ankh blinked, emotions coalescing into a look of complete puzzlement.

"I mean…" Eiji pushed on, looking up at Ankh now, willing his sincerity to show. "I loved you even back then. Probably. Even though I was so afraid to care. Even when I was too scared to admit it even to myself. Even when I swore I'd free Shingo from you. Even when I said I would stand in your way if you ever turned against humanity."

"Even when I was a thing…" The words were quiet, almost contemplative, Ankh tilting his head as if he tried to figure out how to react.

"You never were a thing to me, Ankh." Eiji knows he is sincere there, and he really hopes that it shows.

Because it is the truth. Even knowing what the Greed were, he had never really seen Ankh as one of them. Not after the first few weeks at least. Not after learning that there was a person there. Someone who liked ice cream. Someone who preferred windows to doors. Someone who could be proud, annoyed, aggressive but… who tried. Even when he never admitted it. Someone who wasn't kind, but who protected people that mattered. When it was needed.

"I paid for the ice cream." The admission is sudden and said with a huffed pout, as if it was half an insult, half a peace offering.

"That's good." Eiji nods, feeling like he might start crying, but he smiles instead. Because in a way, it is as sweet and unexpected as a profession of love.

Actions always spoke louder than words with Ankh.

"We're chased by enough people." Ankh didn't move away when Eiji reached out a hand, running his fingers over the top of his bare foot, he just kept looking at him, angular, angry posture slowly relaxing.

"We are." Eiji sighed and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone.

He looked at it for a long moment, trying to come to a decision. When he had departed on this journey he had done it alone. People had lives to get back to. Careers to pick up or rebuild. Everybody except him. Those broken medals in his pocket had been his life, but Ankh was here now. Was slowly easing his foot in under Eiji's thigh, a little point of contact that healed the last of the rifts inside him. Made everything worth it.

He had set out on this journey alone. Had refrained from asking for help from anybody, though he knew that Kougami would have loved putting his considerable resources to use in the cause of medal research. But even if that might have brought back Ankh faster, or more surely, it would also have left them in his debt. Ankh wouldn't have a life of his own. Not the same way. Eiji would be forever grateful for Kougami's aid, but he had never had any illusions that the man was doing it for his own interests. That it was just luck that had cast them on the same side, and that it might change in the future. Kougami was a fount of such unrivalled desire that it frightened him, and the thought of Ankh being used as leverage… no.

It was not a risk he was willing to take.

But Date had a point, back then. Had a point in that maybe it was okay to reach out a hand sometimes. Accept help. On his journey he had done so, would never have got Ankh back without the aid of others. People with no stake in his quest, friends old and friends new. Who didn't ask questions. Who were willing to do what they did for the same reasons that he was. He hadn't reached out his hand then, but he had at least not been afraid to grasp the ones stretched out to him.

But Ankh had paid for that ice cream.

Eiji calculated the time difference to Japan in his head to make sure it was alright to call, then took a deep breath and did so. Ankh was quiet beside him, as if he understood the importance of what Eiji was doing. The signals rang out, then a familiar voice answered, and he couldn't help the smile blooming on his face.

"Hina?" Eiji wondered if she could hear the excitement in his voice, but in case she couldn't he quickly added; "It worked. It really did. Ankh's back." There was no scream of excitement in his ear, just a quiet relief and something that might have been sobs.

"Yes, he's right here next to me," Eiji looked up at Ankh, who looked party annoyed, party amused. "I know. Fine, I will hug him from you. Though probably not as hard." The eyeroll made Eiji smile even wider. "And yes, about that, I was wondering…"

A deep breath. A moment of hesitation. But he could do this. He could reach out a hand. Hope that someone would take it.

"… is Satonaka there?"


	13. Reunions

It had only taken a few days to get everything together. Only a few days to make a miraculous rebirth official in paper as well as flesh. To Eiji, that could only mean one thing.

His friends had been counting on him to succeed.

No, more than that; they had planned for problems he had not even seen, had been prepared beforehand for the day when he would finally be strong enough to reach out a hand and ask for help. It had moved him almost to tears, but even then he hadn't been prepared for the onslaught of emotions that came with picking up the small package, sent by express mail.

"You're crying." Ankh's voice was hard and brittle, covering up the worry that Eiji had learned to spot under the caustic surface.

"Sorry." He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, offering the passport to the man that it was created for. The accompanying letter he kept clutched to his chest. "It's just…"

Eiji's voice gave out; the last few days had been enough of a roller-coaster of guilt and making up that this had just been the last straw. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but it hadn't been this.

"Anko." Ankh growled in displeasure, turning the passport over in his hands. "This is that asshole Date at work, isn't it?"

"Ankou," Eiji corrected, because of course this was the first thing the former Greed would jump at. "You need a proper Japanese name, it's not like everybody is going to stop calling you Ankh just because it's something else in the passport."

"Well," Ankh admitted with an annoyed grumbled. "At least it's not 'Ankypoo'." He held up the passport to look at the picture, which had to be of Shingo doing a rather good impression of Ankh's smile and hair. For a moment he tried to match his smile to the one in the picture, then his face stilled, his brows drawing together in a frown.

Eiji swallowed hard, because if Ankh had spotted what had made Eiji tear up before, what would his reaction be?

"Anko Izumi." Ankh spoke the name softly, tilting his head to make sure he had read it right. The look he turned on Eiji was filled with questions.

"Anko Izumi." Eiji nodded, swallowing down the lump that threatened to resurge. The letter had rumpled slightly in his hand, and he wiped it smooth before looking down at it again to check the facts and also because looking at Ankh would definitely lead to more tears, and hugs, and he needed to keep some form of composure. "Officially you are Shingo and Hina's half-brother. Their father… well, your 'father' too, didn't realize that his ex-girlfriend was pregnant when she went back to Germany. She raised you there, and later, after she had died, you came back to Japan to find out about your heritage. There's apparently some school records too, and a birth certificate and everything waiting for you back home."

"Trust those idiots to go completely overboard with everything." Ankh sounded annoyed enough that Eiji had to look up to see if the tone was real, but the tense face held the same sort of long suffering acceptance it had held when they had decided he needed a birthday celebration.

"Yes, that's sort of their thing." Eiji scratched the back of his neck with a soft laugh. "Hina writes that since their parents are dead and their father didn't have many other relatives, it was not much trouble on their end. And she wouldn't mind another brother. Since she already saw you as one."

There was a strange, strangled noise from Ankh and he pushed the passport into his pocket, but he didn't say anything.

"Shingo says that their father would understand, and that he hopes he wouldn't have minded very much to have had a German girlfriend that close to the wedding. He also says that this makes you the older by a year, and that he hopes you won't be too mean to your little brother."

That brought out a familiar huff, and Ankh's lips twitched into a smirk. "More than I already was?"

"Taking over his body saved his life," Eiji pointed out.

"Still, they are idiots."

"Idiots that love you."

There was no reply at that, maybe because by then both their lips were busy.

…

The plane ride had made it real. Realer in some ways than the taste of Ankh's skin on his tongue, the way he sometimes elbowed him in his sleep because turning around gently was apparently not in his DNA. But those could have been dreams, could have been wishful thinking, and having a stern-faced Japanese custom's official check and approve of Ankh's passport was not something Eiji had ever fantasised about.

Had Kougami been involved at all? The letter hadn't said, and Eiji hadn't asked. Satonaka was certainly able to go behind his back if she wanted to, but could she have done it without her boss finding out? Who else had the strings to pull to make something like this happen, to make documents appear and records be changed? It was beyond even his own family's means and influence, at least he hoped so. So Kougami was most likely at the heart of this, and most likely there would be favours asked in the future, favours that Eiji would be hard pressed to deny. Because every time he would feel the urge to do so, he would remember this feeling.

Standing there in the airport. On Japanese ground. With Ankh next to him all fidgety and jittery after having been forced to sit still in a plane for too long. The way the fidgeting stilled after a brush of his hand. The way Ankh tensed a moment before he did, because he spotted their friends before Eiji himself did. As always.

He would remember this feeling of everything being right in the world, of talking without having any idea what he was saying because he kept watching their faces. Hina's eyes lighting up in cautious hope as Chiyoko rushed Ankh for a hug and was not rebuked. Shingo staying at the rear, his eyes seeking out Eiji's once, before settling back on Hina. Ankh looking like he was wanting to be anywhere but here, and yet suffering the attention.

No. More than suffering. Once Chiyoko had let him go, had let him catch his breath, had let a moment of silence descend on the small group of friends (and family now), then he tilted his head and looked at Hina. Actually looked at her. Questioningly.

There was a moment there of hesitation between the two of them, because Ankh would never take the first step, and Hina… well, Eiji could only imagine what was going through her mind. Probably the same thing that had gone through his after he had got Ankh back, the fact that he had to keep repeating until it finally stuck. That this was not Shingo.

She hugged him anyway. Gently, as if holding something that might shatter. There was a moment there of hesitation, and then Ankh hugged back. Not hard. Just a small, awkward thing, his hands not being entirely sure what to do. But it was enough to make Hina's eyes tear up as she released him, and honestly enough to make Eiji tear up too.

But he had no reason to shed tears anymore. He was home. With his friends.

Everything was right with the world.

—

((So, sort of an ending for now. My schedule is insane, my deadlines are looming and I've got paying shit to write. However, I am not immune to feels, if people actually read this, there's more ideas in my head. Just so little time.))


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